With the sound of wind howling, Manda twisted its body and wrapped around the Eight-Tails in an instant, like a python coiling around a wild bull.
"So fast?"
Killer Bee was shocked. His eight tentacles flailed wildly, struggling with all his strength to tear Manda off his body.
"Jinchuriki, huh…"
Manda let out a proud snort. Its body tightened even more, then its jaws opened wide and bit down hard on the Eight-Tails' neck.
Two giant beasts clashed, and the dense forest shook with a series of deafening booms. Rocks flew, trees snapped apart, and clouds of dust blotted out the sky.
From the looks of it, neither side could gain the upper hand for now.
"Hissss..."
The white snake flicked its tongue, a human-like smile appearing on its face. Orochimaru split into seven snake heads, wrapping around the Fourth Raikage, while the last one turned toward a Kumogakure ninja hiding in the woods and lashed out.
The serpent's body stretched dozens of meters. Uchiha Jinsuke only saw a flash of white, and the next moment his opponent, that Kumogakure jonin, was gone from sight.
Stopping his own momentum, Uchiha Jinsuke instinctively looked back, just in time to see a shredded corpse fall from the snake's jaws.
A chill ran through him. Just then, a short blade came slashing in while he was distracted. He quickly pushed down his stray thoughts and threw himself at his next opponent.
Still, he couldn't help but think—thank goodness this monster wasn't his enemy.
"Damn it!"
The Fourth Raikage's body turned into a blade of lightning, piercing a giant snake and blasting a hole clean through it. But there wasn't the slightest trace of triumph on his face.
Because as he passed through, the wound on the snake's head was already closing up.
It looked like he was pressing Yamata no Orochi down, but in truth, it was Orochimaru who had entangled him. Worse still, Orochimaru had the strength to spare to slaughter Kumogakure's forces in the forest.
The Fourth Raikage roared toward the woods, "All of you, get away from here!"
The Kumogakure ninjas, hearing the order, broke free from their fights and rushed to flee into the distance.
"Hissss... listen to me. All Konoha ninjas, don't leave my side—stay within a hundred meters."
The white snake grinned slyly. "Forget about the Kumogakure who are running away."
The Konoha side, who had been about to give chase, instinctively stopped in their tracks. After thinking it through, they figured he was right.
They were on defense anyway. If Kumogakure wanted to run, let them run.
So, the Konoha ninjas stood their ground, smirking faintly as they watched the Kumogakure flee.
With hands freed up, some of the Uchiha elites let their tomoe spin in their eyes, even throwing out long-range genjutsu to try to support Orochimaru.
Even if it was just from a distance, Raikage's movements were slowed down, keeping him from unleashing his full power.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it!!!"
The Fourth Raikage fumed inside, while the Kumogakure ninjas who had just escaped felt even more suffocated. They had no choice but to turn back, risking their lives once again against the Konoha forces.
They couldn't just watch their Raikage get surrounded by Konoha.
But with fear weighing on their hearts, they couldn't fight with full strength. Little by little, Konoha, though fewer in number, began to push them back.
This was no surprise. Orochimaru's troops were all drawn from the Uchiha Police Force, the finest of the finest. On top of that, the deep night was the perfect stage for the Sharingan, and Orochimaru himself was commanding the field.
"This can't go on..."
Noticing that Kumogakure's side was falling behind, the Fourth Raikage's face sank. He had never expected things to turn out this way.
If this dragged on, Kumogakure would suffer terrible losses.
Raikage roared loudly, "Killer Bee, destroy Konohagakure's fortress."
That round building decorated with lights, under Orochimaru's deliberate control, still hadn't been destroyed.
The barrier jutsu thrown up in a rush was weak, but the aftermath of the battle so far had only kicked up bits of rubble and broken wood, not enough to tear it down.
Hearing Raikage's order, Killer Bee also sensed something was off. Ignoring Manda's fangs tearing at him, he controlled the Eight-Tails, Gyuki, and opened its mouth to form a Tailed Beast Ball.
"Don't even think about it!"
Of course, Manda wasn't about to let him attack freely. The snake's body coiled around the ox-headed beast.
But Killer Bee didn't care at all. Instead of stopping, he sped up, gathering massive yin-yang chakra in front of him. His posture was clear: if you interfere, the Tailed Beast Ball will explode right here.
Faced with Killer Bee's insane move, Manda froze.
It had only answered Orochimaru's summon to make some extra profit, not to gamble with its life. After all, Orochimaru wasn't a descendant of the Ryuchi Cave, nor did he have the right to practice Sage Jutsu.
The Tailed Beast Ball took some time to form. Clearly, as the Eight-Tails' Jinchuriki, Killer Bee wasn't as skilled yet as he would be later.
But a Tailed Beast Ball was still a Tailed Beast Ball. The condensed mass of chakra carried a sharp sonic boom as it shot toward Yamata no Orochi.
Behind Orochimaru stood the "fortress."
The Fourth Raikage leapt aside first. Even with his body, taking a Tailed Beast Ball head-on was no joke.
But Yamata no Orochi's move caught him off guard—it stretched across the Tailed Beast Ball's path, as if ready to take the hit with its own body.
"Don't tell me… that fortress is real?"
That thought flashed through Raikage's mind. Other than that, he couldn't explain Orochimaru's actions.
But was that really the case?
At least Uchiha Fugaku knew whether the building was real or not, and even he was baffled by Orochimaru's behavior.
While the others wondered, Orochimaru's cold snake eyes stayed fixed on the incoming Tailed Beast Ball.
His goal wasn't to protect the fake fortress—it was to keep the battle going.
Raikage feared heavy losses and didn't dare push too far, but Orochimaru wasn't afraid.
Orochimaru didn't care about losses. As long as it meant Kumogakure's war with Konohagakure could drag on, even if only one fighter was left standing, he wouldn't stop.
Besides, after finally gaining the upper hand, how could he just let the war end so easily?
As his thoughts shifted, Yamata no Orochi moved to the side. Just when everyone thought Orochimaru had given up on protecting the fortress, one snake head slammed into the Tailed Beast Ball.
Like a whip striking a spinning top, the giant snake collided and rubbed against the Tailed Beast Ball, pushing its flight path slightly upward.
Boom…
The Tailed Beast Ball streaked over the fortress and exploded in the forest in the distance, shaking the earth with a loud crash.
But the fortress was safe. The price, however, was that one of Yamata no Orochi's heads was completely wiped out.
The Kumogakure ninjas felt no relief at all, because right before their eyes, flesh and blood began spilling out of the severed stump. That missing head would likely grow back before long.
"Orochimaru, that bastard… when did he get this strong?"
Manda, too, felt a chill after witnessing the snake head smack away the Tailed Beast Ball.
"No… he's always been this ruthless—toward others, and toward himself."
Manda felt uneasy. By holding back earlier, it had nearly gotten Orochimaru killed.
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